Fracture
by black angel 2011
Summary: A darkness that has been dormant for thousands of years arises, bringing chaos with it, another darkness that could be the savior of the pokemon world is revived, Ash and Hilda become the center of the conflict, with Hilda holding the key, a key that could either save the world or bring it to ruin. Othelloshipping.
1. Behind Closed Darkness

**Fracture.**

 _ **This was meant to be an entirely different story between Ash and Hilda, but a new idea managed to find its way into my brain so I am going with that Idea, this is not a sequel but hopefully something a little more interesting, this was also meant to be one of the main pairing stories, but since I like rare pairings more, I am going to make it another rare pairing story, please enjoy this one.**_

 _ **Like Pokemon Shattered Empires the romance will happen slowly, but at some point I will be picking it up at a chosen point of the story.**_

 _ **Summary:**_ _Ash's journey is complete, but when he starts revisiting regions he delves into a mystery that could change the world forever, a mystery that brings out his inner darkness that could help save the world, he meets a young woman by the name of Hilda who is a starting trainer, who also holds a secret that can bring the world to ruin._

 _ **Ash:**_ _19_

 _ **Hilda:**_ _18_

 _ **This is a darker story with a hint of violence and mild-moderate language but it is still rated T**_

 **Chapter 1:** Behind Closed Darkness

* * *

In the alleyway of the busy Castelia City, a man wearing a black trench coat and a white mask walked up to a door, knocking and awaiting for the response that he desired. Taking a quick glance in hopes that no one was watching, the winds picked up pushing a newspaper to break away and to whirl around the man's feet, "is there news that you want to present to the boss?" a voice was heard from the door.

The man turned to the door and removed his mask, revealing a glare as dark as night, and a smirk that would send a chill down anyone's spine, "yes, the whereabouts of Hilda has finally been discovered, her powers will change the balance of power," the man confessed as he started laughing.

The door opened allowing for the man to enter the building, "the boss isn't here yet, but make yourself at home," the man suggested not noticing the briefcase in the mystery man's grasp, "is there other business you mean to tend to?" he asked, but no response emerged from the man as he walked onwards towards a secret location.

'No, there is nothing, but soon enough my boss, will meet his end,' walking towards the room of his boss, he began to sense the uneasy gazes of the people around him, 'this case has enough explosives to kill everyone here,' the man started laughing, he opened the door only to discover a man sitting in front of him.

A man with silver hair, wearing a black suit appeared was sitting in a chair, he opened up one of the draws in his desk and looked down at a shining item, "so you mean to destroy everything here, as well as the evidence, that is very cliché of you Adam," the man informed his associate as he pulled out a gun from his desk.

"So you know?" Adam lowered the briefcase, he walked up to one of the seats and opened up one of the bottles, "what do you want to know? Like maybe my own use of Hilda's abilities, what I expect from her or maybe, it would be best that she were to be killed, I don't know, you tell me, you vile son of a bitch," Adam started passing suggestions to his boss.

The boss got up and started walking around his desk, approaching Adam with his gun still pointed at the man, "I have no interest in this Hilda, in fact what you intend to do goes against the mission my old comrade left me," the leader stated, pushing the gun up to man's head.

Adam remained calm as he started laughing at his boss, "so you are going to shoot me here and now, then what about the information you desire? Kill me now and that information goes to the grave with me," Adam laughed at his boss, he lowered the gun knowing that he was correct, Adam waited for his boss to turn around, "as for your comrade, you can join him."

Turning around the boss spotted a gun with a silencer, "you coward," the boss berated his former teammate.

"Do you know who I really am?" Adam asked the leader as he smirked at him, he took a deep breath and started laughing in a sinister manner, "Death, Pestilence, Famine, War I am one of these four," Adam stated as he moved closer to his boss, "and you know what, Hilda is also one of them and she doesn't even know it," the man prepared to fire the weapon.

"What's your point?" the boss asked his former ally with disgust.

After standing up he pointed the weapon at his boss's head "after this, I will no longer need such trivial weapons, there is a weapon waiting for me in Nuvema Town," he laughed at the leader who had fear in his eyes, before he could react, Adam fired twice causing the man to collapse, grabbing his suitcase, he placed it near the dead leader and walked out of the room without his weapon.

Upon exiting the building Adam took a quick glance at his watch, "farewell," he whispered as a powerful explosion ripped through the lower floors of the building, placing his mask back on he continued towards the eastern part of the city while the wails of police sirens rang through the air and the panic of the people started to fill the streets, 'soon people you will know what fear is all about,' Adam started laughing at the commotion that was going on.

"Death seems to have overdone it again, he was only meant to join then kill only that man, not an entire….. oh well, it isn't like those fools were going to be of any use to us," a female lowered her gaze at the panicking people, she pulled of the hood revealing shoulder length black hair and green eyes, "what about you Pestilence?" the woman turned to one of the male members of the group.

The man removed his hood revealing his short blonde hair, "who cares, as long as we get what we want in the end, plus we also need to find Famine, she is an important member of our team, too bad for her she doesn't have much of a choice, it is the will of our leader," Pestilence stated as he burst out into laughter.

"Correct, but sadly the only one who knows where she is, is our good friend Death," War informed her ally, she turned away, relishing in the screams of the people and the wails of the police sirens, "this is only but a small taste of the horrors that we will unleash," the female of the group, peering back one more time as the police force tried to prevent the people from getting closer to the buildings.

 **(Nuvema Town 3 weeks later)**

A young woman with long brown hair sat up after a long night's sleep, in her night gown she stretched out and yawned loudly, she opened her eyes and looked out the window, "oh wow, it is going to be a beautiful day," she cheered, jumping out of the bed happily rushing to the window.

"Hilda, I called for you numerous times this morning!" A female voice called for the young brunette known as Hilda.

"Yeah I know mom, but sleeping in is so good," Hilda replied as she opened the window to let the breeze in, Hilda placed her hands on the window seal and watched the flying pokemon rushing through the sky over the green fields of her home town, 'I am so happy that I have the best view in the world, this is more than likely why I love sleeping in,' Hilda thought to herself as she looked out towards the port, seeing a ship docking in, "maybe my first rival is on that ship as well," she whispered to herself.

"Hilda, Professor Juniper has been waiting for the last three hours, I already gave your breakfast to Herdier," the mother informed her daughter.

"Oh man, why did you do that? You know I am a little lazy!" Hilda complained, puffing up her cheeks in disdain.

"Well it is after twelve in the afternoon," the mother replied, she waited for her daughter to exit her room, Hilda's mother started preparing lunch for her daughter, hoping that she would be a little more active than usual, "sometimes I wish you would be as active as your older brother and his friends," the mother wished, frowning at the test results of her daughter.

"So mom, what are my test results?" Hilda asked her mother from her room.

Grabbing the paper she looked at the failed test, 'she is way smarter than these results suggest, even smarter than her brother,' the mother sighed at the inadequate score of twenty five, "your score is twenty five out of a hundred," Hilda's mom replied angrily.

Hilda walked out of her room this time wearing a white tank top, black vest and denim shorts, her hair was tied up and was held in place by her white hat with a pink pokeball design. Hilda grabbed the paper and proudly smiled at it, at least it was better than the previous score," Hilda confessed, all much to the dismay of her mother.

"Hilda, you are way better than this, why aren't you even trying?" the mother asked her daughter as she placed the plate of food on the table.

Hilda picked up the remote that was on the counter, pressing the button to hear that a news report was being presented with a man in a black suit. "It has been three weeks since a powerful explosion destroyed a part of Castelia City, yet there is still no motive as well as who the culprit is," the broadcaster stated as the scene was switched to an interviewer and Officer Jenny.

"So there is still no word on who was responsible for this, but it seems like the target was a person who had an association with Ghetsis and N," the interviewer pointed out as the officer shook her head in disbelief.

"Sadly all we have is an image of a man with a black mask and trench coat, we have no idea of who this person is and what this person really wants," the officer explained leaving the family feeling very uneasy about the mystery behind the destroyed mob.

"So there is still no answer," Hilda whispered as she watched the news report from the table in the dining room, 'something odd is happening, I can feel it,' she thought to herself as she looked at the food on the table, 'but not only that, ever since we moved here, I haven't been able to make any friends, in fact I wish I had at least one friend,' Hilda continued to stare at her food with a hint of sadness.

"Now answer me Hilda, why are your grades so bad?" the mother asked her daughter with anger.

"Come on mom, next thing you are going ask is why am I holding back," Hilda suggested with a carefree expression, she grabbed the plate of food and started to wonder about her part in this town. The mother let out a sigh, knowing that her daughter had confessed her lack of interest in her studies. Hilda looked outside to see children playing with their pet pokemon, sadness filled her mind as she showed her first signs of loneliness, "mom, I have been hearing a lot of people talking behind my back recently, especially from this town," Hilda mentioned a problem she had been having, "do you know why?" she asked her mother softly.

Hilda's mother placed the kitchen utensils on the sink and refused to turn around to look her daughter in the eye, "it is nothing that you should worry about," she snapped back, refusing to show the concern on her face.

"Nothing to be concerned about? I don't have any friends and men in this town see me as weird," Hilda started complaining to her mother, "that is the reason why I never went all out in my studies, or maybe you know of the other reason why these people are talking, especially since I get the feeling that they fear me as well," Hilda informed her mother as she hit the table with all her might, the table split in half causing everything on the table to through the middle of, "hey what just happened?" the brunette asked her mother.

'I wish I knew as well,' the mother answered quietly, ignoring the growing frustrations of her own daughter.

"Mom, earth to mom," Hilda leapt out of her seat, she walked up to her mother and waved her right hand in front of her, "can you explain why I split the table in two?" Hilda requested seriously.

"I don't know alright!" the mother snapped back forcing Hilda to leap back in fear of her mother.

Hilda walked up to the door with a slight hint of disappointment, she grabbed her backpack and opened the door, "alright mom, I will give you a call in the next town," the brunette replied quietly, she looked back once again to see the table collapsed in the middle, "even the frame is bent too," Hilda whispered to herself.

Hilda's mother watched her daughter walking slowly towards the front gate, "if she were to know what she is, she would understand why people view her differently, I just wish she would make an effort in her studies, as well as making even one friend," the mother smiled at her daughter, seeing the wind pick up, gently causing Hilda's hair to sway, "just one friend for Hilda, would be enough to make her rethink her stance on life."

 **(Nuvema Port)**

A young man with spiky black hair, wearing a red jack and blue jeans walked off the ship with a small yellow Pokemon on his right shoulder, "you know buddy, it has been a while since we have been in Unova, I wonder how Iris and Cilan are going," Ash said with a smile, walking down the gang plank he felt the air grow could around him, "something doesn't feel right buddy," Ash whispered, he looked up towards one of the rolling hills that bordered the town, spotting a man in a black trench coat, 'who is that man?' Ash asked himself as he looked around to find out where his uneasy feeling was coming from.

Later that day Ash was in a Pokemon Centre with two of his pokeballs, "Ash's Ketchum, your three pokemon have been checked and are in good health," a female nurse announced over the PA system.

Ash walked over to the main counter and looked back, 'it isn't just one person, it is all around me,' Ash thought to himself, the small yellow pokemon leapt on to his shoulders, while Ash picked up the two pokeballs, "come on out you two," Ash called out for a dark blue frog like pokemon with bubbles around his body and his tongue wrapped around his neck, and a much larger pokemon lavender at the front, with a mauve body, a powerful tail curled inwards, two antennae, "Goodra and Greninja, welcome to Unova," Ash introduced two of his pokemon to the new region.

"Oh wow, we have never seen those pokemon before," some of the children rushed excitedly towards the strange new pokemon.

"Oh right, these two pokemon come from the Kalos region," Ash reminded himself as the two pokemon watched as the young crowd surrounded them.

"Some things never change with you Ash," a familiar male voice echoed from behind, "bring in exotic pokemon from a different region," a man with short blonde hair, wearing an orange jacket with blue jeans informed Ash as he approached him.

Ash turned around to see his old rival, "long time no see Trip," Ash replied joyously.

Trip looked at the two new pokemon, "so, I see you have travelled to another region, that is just like you," Trip stated with a hint of sarcasm, pulling out his pokedex to gather information on the pokemon he had never seen before, "I see, so my pokedex needs upgrading," Trip put his pokedex back into his pocket and started approaching the pokemon cautiously.

"Seems like it Trip, so what have you been doing?" Ash asked his friend.

"Traveling the world, haven't been to every region yet, but I came back here to have a little break," Trip explained to his friend as he watched the raven haired trainer recall his pokemon, "and you?" he asked calmly.

"Me? Well apart from capturing new pokemon, collecting more badges and winning the Kalos League, not much has changed, just waiting for the next challenge," Ash answered his former rival as quickly as possible.

"I can see it on your face, there is something wrong," Trip pointed out Ash's uneasy expression.

"Yeah, it has been since I arrived," Ash retorted with concern, he scanned the area feeling like it was all around him.

"Have you even watched the news lately?" Trip asked the Kanto native.

Ash shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, "what about it?"

"Something horrible happened in Castelia City about three weeks ago," Trip pulled an old newspaper showing him the headline article, "not even the motives are known to the police as well as," Trip informed Ash.

The Kanto trainer stared at the newspaper with disdain, "so what happened?" Ash pushed the topic further.

"A powerful explosion," Trip replied sadly, "no one knows who caused it, but witnesses have said that a man in a trench coat wearing a black masked was seen walking away before it happened, no one has seen him since the explosion," Trip explained to his friend, but was quick to pull out more pictures from his pocket, "that isn't all Ash," trip introduced a few more newspapers.

"What are these?" Ash enquired.

"This one here is the effects of a strange outbreak that claimed the lives of thousands," Trip pointed to the first picture showing the corpses of people lining the streets of a town, focusing on the next picture Trip showed images of a destroyed town, "in this one for an unexplained reason two cities went to war over something they had always agreed upon."

"Wait a second then why do I feel a coldness in this town?" Ash asked his former rival.

"Well there is this young woman in this town, since she moved here a while ago, the crops have all wilted and died, even the emergency food storage was burned to the ground," Trip explained the problems within the town, "better not continue Ash, the people are now staring at us," Trip packed up the newspapers and put them in his backpack.

Ash noticed a picture dropping on the floor, he picked it up and spotted a woman with long brown hair standing in front of the storage facility, he fixated on the woman for a moment, 'what?' Ash asked himself and in shock the woman in the picture turned around revealing the tears streaming down her face, "she was crying," the raven haired man whispered, but the photo reverted back to its original state.

"What was that Ash?" the blonde haired trainer asked his friend.

"Nothing," Ash lied to Unova native, he quickly turned his vision back to the photo, 'odd, why did I see that?' Ash asked himself, thinking about the occurrences around the pokemon world, "is there anything else I should know?" he asked the blonde haired trainer.

"I don't know more than I have already told you," Trip replied, he walked out of the medical facility with Ash watching from one of the chairs.

Ash rushed towards his friend with the picture in his hand, "I am curious about her, so tell me more about her," Ash rashly demanded more information.

"Alright just follow me, I will show you why people despise her," Trip submitted to Ash's thirst for knowledge. He led his former rival through the streets, "here it was lined with berry trees, and just further down the street….." Trip pointed to a farm now filled with dead crops, Ash's scanned the area as the farmers were picking out the dead crops, "don't blame the weather, the weather has always been great, but this is just a small portion, one day I was walking pass and area where I help teach children about training pokemon, sadly none of the children visit that area out of fear," Trip explained as he continued to lead Ash around the small town.

Moments passed as the two friends walked towards the place where Trip would teach children about pokemon training. Ash looked around to see the remains of the training area, "what happened?" Ash asked the native with a concerned tone.

"She punched the wall," Trip retorted with a sigh, picking up one of the last remaining bricks that wasn't destroyed in the hit, "I don't know why, but the one thing is, she wasn't even trying either, she is physically a very strong person which is why people fear her," Trip informed Ash, he dropped the brick and turned to Ash, "I advise that you stay away from her, she is bad news."

'I cannot do that, what I saw was pain in her eyes,' Ash thought to himself as he turned away from his former rival, "I am heading to Professor Juniper's Lab," Ash walked away, he pulled the picture out of his pocket, stared at it thinking about the image he had seen, 'why was she crying?' Ash asked himself, his eyes remained fixated on the woman standing near the burnt down building.

Ash continued on without watching where he was going, not taking any notice of the approaching woman, the small electric mouse tried warning him about the approaching brunette, but before Ash could react the woman crashed into him, causing them to fall over, "ouch, that really hurt," Hilda complain, she tried to ease the pain, but turned her blue eyes to the man she crashed into, "maybe it would be best if you watched where you were going," Hilda ordered the man.

Ash slowly got to his feet and extended his hand out, "here, let me help you up," Ash waited for the brunette to accept the assistance. He felt the mysterious woman slapping his hand away not wanting assistance, "hey what was that about?" Ash asked furiously.

"I know what most of you are like, you will only push me back down again, that has happened way too many times for me to fall for that to happen again," the brunette refused the assistance, but she again was in shock to see the hand appearing in front of her again, "I can pick myself up," Hilda remarked angrily.

"I am not a native of this town, in fact, I am not a native of this region," the raven haired trainer argued with the woman, persisting with helping her, she looked up at him causing the trainer to stare blankly back at her, 'that's the woman I saw in the picture not too long ago,' Ash immediately concluded.

"What do you want?" the woman asked the trainer.

"Let me help you up," Ash answered, refusing to budge from his stance, "but I do have a few questions I need to ask you," he continued to wait for the brunette to accept his helping hand.

"I guess, you aren't going to leave me alone then," the brunette grabbed the trainer's hand pushing herself up.

"The name is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town," Ash introduced himself to the young woman.

"My name is Hilda," the brunette followed with her introduction, she released her grasp on Ash's hand and started walking away, "now if you will excuse me, I am going to get my first pokemon," Hilda continued on her path towards the lab.

"Well buddy, I guess that is one reason why she doesn't have friends," Ash whispered, he looked up to discover that Hilda had halted, her fists clenched, he smiled at the brunette, "now that I have your attention, maybe it would be nice if you answer at least one of my questions," Ash pulled out the photo of the woman, Hilda turned around to see the picture in his hands, she stepped back in horror at the photo, "I take it something painful happened here," Ash turned the picture towards him, "why were you crying?" Ash asked catching Hilda further off guard.

"How did you know I was crying when that was taken?" Hilda asked the experienced trainer. She took a deep breath and looked away, "the person I thought was my friend was caught up in the fire, I tried to enter but the people of this town pushed me away, then blamed me for the fire starting," Hilda explained the situation to Ash, she turned away with a pained expression on her face, "I try to put on a brave front, but every time I try, that is when even more bad things happen and all the people can do is blame me," Hilda continued to explain to the raven haired trainer.

"I am going to see Professor Juniper anyway, so do you mind if I tag along?" Ash asked the brunette softly, she nodded while the young man smiled at her. As the two walked on quietly, the trainer peered to the hills again seeing the man watching the village from the vantage point, 'that person has been there for over three hours, what is that person planning?' A curious Ash asked himself, trying to figure out the motives of that person.

"I see, so she is about to become a trainer," the man whispered to himself as he looked down at the small town yet again, "it matters not, all I care about is her ability to bring this world to ruin and since she doesn't fully understand, we have the perfect bargaining chip, her brother," the man whispered to himself slowly bursting out into laughter.

"Death, why are you still waiting?" a woman asked her comrade.

Death pointed down at the man entering the laboratory, "something is familiar about him, almost like the king that sealed us away and killed the original Famine," Death glared at the blacked haired trainer, clenching his fists tightly.

"It isn't like that king is around anymore, so we can do as we please, unfortunately, the new Famine is mortal, not like us, the king of Pokelantis did a poor job in defeating us thousands of years ago," the woman said with a smirk, laughing at the small town, she looked down at the dead crops and burnt food storage, "funny part about is, this Hilda, doesn't even know this is her own doing, all we need to do is to let her travel around Unova while we prepare for our leader's return," the woman started walking away from the town, she left her ally alone as he watched the town.

"So the fun is about to start, just let me know when I can stop holding back," Death showed his thirst for blood.

"Take it easy Death, the only being that can defeat us is no longer living and his dark spirit has been sealed away, so our mission will be very simple, well that is once we get Hilda to join us in destroying all life on this planet," War explained with overconfidence in their ability to win, she looked up to see the flying pokemon heading away from the ocean, 'we almost succeeded three thousand years ago, but this king of Pokelantis thwarted our plans and sealed us away, but now, there is no chance of him stopping us,' War started to grin maliciously, 'time to show off my ability,' War raised her right hand into the air, clicking her fingers making the pokemon turn towards the city, "let's see how wild these pokemon really are," War whispered as the pokemon started heading towards the small town.

* * *

 **Well that is Chapter 1 of this epic new story, hope you all like it and yes I think having the main female protagonist as a powerful entity that can bring the world to ruin is a really cool idea, but I do have plans for it so watch what I have in store for Hilda in this story.**

 **With the first salvos being fired in this new conflict, it will be up to Ash to stop the wild pokemon from destroying the town and killing the inhabitants?**

 **Next time chapter 2: Lingering darkness**

 **And now with Shattered Empires completed, I will now started fulfilling promises I made earlier in the year and before that, starting with this one.**


	2. Lingering Darkness

**Chapter 2: Lingering Darkness.**

 _ **Summary:**_ _panic breaks out forcing Ash to defend Nuvema Town, as a secret is revealed Ash makes choice that will change the his involvement in the upcoming conflict._

* * *

Ash followed Hilda into the lab owned by the regional professor, he looked around happy to see that the facility was still extremely busy as always, seeing the starting pokemon running around the legs of the lab assistants as they continued to research the pokemon of the world, Ash turned his eyes to the back of the main foyer spotting a woman with light brown hair tied up, wearing a green dress, a white blouse and lab coat, "alright you guys can have your break," the woman informed her assistants.

"Hi Professor Juniper, it's been a while," Ash called the leader of the research team.

"Ash, I see you are revisiting some of the regions you have been to before," Professor Juniper pointed out with great joy, "have you heard the news?" Juniper asked the younger trainer.

"Yeah, something is going horribly wrong in this region," Ash answered back with a hint of sadness.

"Well apart from that, your friend Iris is the new champion of this region," Juniper informed Ash with the news about his old traveling compainion.

"That's awesome," Ash replied with joy.

"Well it seems like nothing much has changed about you," another female voice echoed through the main foyer of the lab, Ash turned around to see a woman with a darker tone of skin, long violet hair, wearing a pink dress and a cream coloured blouse with pink cuffs, "Juniper summoned me here a few days ago, who knew you would be showing up to visit," Iris walked up to her friend.

"So you became champion of this region," Ash applauded his former traveling companion.

"Yeah, amazing how much has changed over the last few years," Iris pointed out with great pride, "but reminiscing isn't the reason why I am here, in fact, you should know a bit about what is happening around the world," Iris explained to Ash about her reasoning for being in Nuvema Town, she watched Hilda choosing her first pokemon for her journey, "mind if we go somewhere quiet?" Iris requested quietly.

"Why?" Ash enquired, but no response was give straight away, he followed his friend to another location, "Iris, the moment you saw Hilda, you grew more serious," Ash grew frustrated with the champion of the region.

Upon reaching the balcony Iris turned to Ash with a serious expression, "listen, there is something you need to know about that woman, we have recently discovered that she is the reason why there is a severe food shortage in this town, I came here to investigate," Iris informed Ash about her mission in the small town.

"Investigate further into certain events right Iris?" Ash asked his friend calmly.

Iris nodded, staring out into the distance, seeing the wilted crops, "all of the champions have their concerns, so it is only right for me to look around, the Elite Four are also helping, but the biggest problem rests in the fact that people have also gone missing," Iris explained to Ash about the deepening mystery in her region, "I have done some research and sadly things are set to get worse," Iris stated with a frown, not realising that Hilda was listening in on the conversation between the two friends.

"How bad is it going to get?" Ash asked quietly.

"three thousand years ago, the world was ravaged by four entities, all four were named War, Pestilence, Famine and Death, those four and their leader were all beaten by the king of Pokelantis," Iris explained to Ash, pulling out a book based on the history of Pokelantis, "after the king won the battle he grew arrogant and demanded that everyone sees him as a deity," Iris explained more of the history.

"And he was sealed away by Ho-oh," Ash finished catching the champion off guard, "I know that he was, because I was taken over by that very same king," Ash confessed with displeasure at the experience.

"The Four Horsemen are also immortal, but as for the current Famine, well she is mortal," Iris stated with a frown, hearing the footsteps of the woman she was referring to, "we don't have anything against you, we are trying to come up with an idea on how we can help you," Iris tried to reason with the brunette.

'So that means I hold an evil spirit within me, a spirit that can bring ruin to this world,' the brunette pressed her back against the wall and slid down.

"What happened to the original Famine?" Ash asked the champion, his fists clenched tightly as he grew determined.

"The king of Pokelantis pulled the soul out of its original body, after that, the body of the original famine turned to dust, meaning the spirit of Famine was forced to haunt the world for eternity," Iris explained the past of the spirit to Ash, "luckily it is still dormant but it is still exerting it's power," Iris informed Ash while pointing towards dead fields of crops and berry trees.

"There is something else isn't there?" Ash questioned the Unova champion.

Iris nodded and looked over at the brunette, "the spirit is linked to the life of Hilda, so if Famine is taken out of Hilda's body either by accident or forcibly, she will die," Iris solemnly told the two, Hilda stepped back in fear, her eyes widened as she shook her head, in dismay, "that is something we all need to prevent, maybe we can find a way to reverse the influence of Famine," Iris concluded with certainty, glancing over at Hilda who was showing a huge amount of fear.

"Reverse it how? And not only that the king of Pokelantis is sealed away, and the only person that knows his location is the Pyramid King," Ash showed signs of growing frustration, he looked up to see a dark wave flying towards the town, wincing his eyes he spotted a flock of flying pokemon heading towards the town, 'odd, wild pokemon don't act like this,' Ash thought to himself, as the pokemon got closer, the trio felt the ground shaking below them.

The cries of the flying pokemon sounded like a train, Ash looked into the eyes of the pokemon seeing them glowing red, "what is it Ash?" Iris asked her friend, the trio witness the pokemon forming a powerful twister destroying a small house.

"They're in a trance, someone caused these pokemon to attack this town," Ash growled in anger.

"Team Rocket?" Iris questioned Ash.

"No, there is no way Team Rocket would pull this crap," Ash replied quickly, Ash watched the flying types forming another vortex causing the people to panic even more, 'no something is amiss here,' Ash started to gather his thoughts, he looked back to see Hilda with her hand over her mouth, visibly shaking up, 'the town's people will blame her for this,' Ash showed even more remorse for the brunette. The experienced trainer turned towards the flock of pokemon and rushed towards the balcony, with Pikachu on his shoulder and a pokeball in hand.

"Dragonite, let's go," Iris called for her powerful yellow pokemon with a powerful set of wings, "you stay put Ash and I will deal with this," Iris instructed the starting trainer, she jumped on her pokemon while Hilda watched the purple haired girl flying off to combat the flock of pokemon, "Dragonite, use Flamethrower," Iris barked out her command.

Dragonite unleashed a powerful stream of flames at the marauding pokemon, knocking them out in one hit, meanwhile a blast of electricity was seen emerging from the area Ash was, but before they could hit the pokemon on the ground, a multitude of brown pokemon with steal claws emerged from the earth absorbing the electric attacks.

"Excadrills," Ash hissed in frustration, "Pikachu stand back, this is time for another of my pokemon," Ash told his pokemon, grabbing one of his pokeballs, "Greninja, I choose you," Ash called for his next pokemon.

Hilda watched her two friends battling the vast number of pokemon, she grabbed her pokeball and swung her right arm back, 'not now,' a voice echoed in her mind.

"What was that?" Hilda lowered her arm, the brunette looked around, with her body frozen in place she tried her best to move again, 'what do you want?' Hilda asked subconsciously.

'Self-preservation, I cannot be revived if you go out there recklessly like those fools are,' the voice continued to taunt the young woman, laughing at the weakness of the brunette, the spirit started to grow quieter, 'not before I can bring ruin to this world,' the spirit started to laugh hysterically.

Hilda waited for another word, but it grew silent in her mind, she looked around again to discover that no one was around. The brunette watched a pokemon she had never seen before throw a barrage of water shurikens at the ground type pokemon.

Ash watched the group of Excadrills falling to the ground, but as he started to grow more at ease the flying pokemon led by a powerful eagle like pokemon appeared with flock of Unfeazant, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt," Ash ordered his pokemon. He watched his partner leaping into the air with the assistance of Greninja, the electric mouse discharged a powerful bolt of electricity in every direction hitting all the flying pokemon, "Greninja, I need you to use Water Shuriken again," Ash commanded his pokemon to unleash another attack.

The ninja pokemon started thrown a vast number of shurikens at the ground based pokemon, pushing them back, Ash's two pokemon landed infront of Ash who was smirking at the challenge that rested before him,

The man in the trench coat approached the trainers and the champion, laughing at them as the pokemon flew back into the wild again, "I see that we might have a challenge on our hands, it is just too bad our boss doesn't want the spirit of Famine to leave that frail body of yours Hilda, you should consider yourself fortunate," Death as he pulled out a slip from his pocket, "by the way, do you know this young man?" he asked Hilda, throwing the picture in her direction.

Hilda caught the photo and flipped it around, in horror she immediately recognised the man in the photo, "my…..my brother," Hilda started to shed tears.

"Oh so that is your brother," Death started to laugh manically, lowering his hood the man grinned at the group, "how about we make a deal, for your brother's safety, you come to join us Hilda, if not then you will never see your brother alive again," Death offered the brunette.

"Don't you dare force her to do anything," the raven haired trainer growled at the powerful man, standing in front of Hilda and preventing Death from getting any closer.

"How precious, you barely even know her and yet you intend to keep her safe," Death chuckled at the trainer, he started to turn around and grinned at the trainer, "there is nothing that can defeat us, the only entity that can get even close is the King of Pokelantis," Death informed the trainer as he walked away from the group, he turned his vision to Hilda once again, "now we will give you some time to think about it, none of us want you to rush your decision," Death left the trio before a response was given.

"Hilbert went missing a year ago, now I know why," Hilda started crying over her missing brother.

Ash walked passed the young woman, a serious expression on his face, he refused to look back not wanting to see Hilda cry, 'I cannot believe I am going to have to resort to this,' Ash petted his pokemon, sharing a stare of concern with his partner. He walked over to the phone and pressed in a few numbers.

Ash waited for the person to appear on the screen. As the seconds passed the person finally responded to the call, a man with brown hair, dressed in mostly green showed up, "ah Ash, it has been a while," the man greeted the trainer.

"Brandon, it's good to see you again as well," Ash replied quietly, he looked back to discover Iris helping Hilda back into the main foyer, "there is an emergency in Unova, there is something that I need to do," Ash told the pyramid king without divulging too much information.

"It must be linked to the events of the disasters around the world," Brandon quickly deduced, to which Ash nodded in agreement, "I see, maybe I should come to wherever you are now," Brandon suggest forcing Ash to agree yet again.

Ash sighed but quickly pictured the response from the older man, "I need to talk to the king of Pokelantis," Ash informed the pyramid king.

"Noooo!" Brandon quickly replied, furious at the young man for proposing such an idea, "do you even remember what happened the last time you and that spirit, he possessed you and forced you to battle, taking you as hostage," Brandon explained to Ash, preparing to hang up the phone he was fast to notice the serious expression on the young man's face.

"I know what happened, but there might not be much of a choice Brandon," Ash snapped back at the Frontier Brain, "I am not doing this out of carelessness or arrogance, I am doing something that is needed," Ash tried to reason with the pyramid king, "I just need to learn more from him about the past and plus he might be the key to defeating these powerful enemies and saving two people at the same time," Ash explained his reasoning.

"I still cannot allow for it, but if this is connect in some way then I am left with no choice but to allow for it, but one condition," Brandon showed the Kanto trainer one of his pokeballs, "you will have to battle me," Frontier Brain Brandon declared his challenge to Ash.

"Wait Ash!" Iris called to her friend, but was ignored by him.

"Fine, it will be a three on three battle," Ash declared his interest in battling Brandon.

Brandon smiled at the young man and turned, "I knew you wouldn't turn down my challenge, so I will tell you the three pokemon I will be using," Brandon started but was interrupted by the man he was challenging for the battle.

"Regirock, Registeel and Regice, those three are the ones I want to face," Ash expressed his interest in battling Brandon's legendary pokemon.

Brandon noticed how eager the opponent was, "very well, so I will let you also choose the location," Brandon informed the Kanto native.

"I select the Dreamyard, just to the east of Striaton City," Ash selected his location with confident tone.

"The Unova region, very well," Brandon acknowledged the new destination, "you there get the Battle Pyramid ready for the journey, our destination East of Striaton City in the Unova region," Brandon informed his colleagues quickly, "I will see you in one week," Brandon ended the call allowing Ash to turn to Iris who wasn't happy with the arrangement.

Iris placed her hands on her hips and shook her head, "what the hell do you think you're doing?" Iris questioned the man, she pointed at the brunette who was staring at him with her mouth agape, "there is already a pre-set meeting with the regional champions and the Elite Fours," Iris explained to Ash about her own arrangement.

"I have my own agendas Iris, one of them is to challenge you to a battle," Ash informed the Unova Champion, Ash shot a quick glance at Hilda who was growing more nervous, "plus, I need to know more about what is going on and how I can help Hilda out," Ash returned his focus to Iris who shrugged her shoulders, showing disappointment in Ash's decision.

Iris turned away from Ash and started walking away, "how are you going to help her? You cannot do everything," Iris stated with a frown, she headed out of the lab to assess the damage done by the attack on the town.

"I will not abandon someone who needs assistance," Ash whispered, he stood up and started to walk to the entrance, "come on Hilda, we are heading out to Striaton City, I will do what I can as your friend," he assured the brunette, slowly making his way to the door.

Hilda watched the more experienced trainer exiting the lab, 'just what is he after? And why is he interested in helping me?' Hilda asked herself, tilting her head in confusion, she grabbed her pokeball and stared at it, thinking about her new journey, "Snivy, you, Ash and Pikachu are my first friends, sadly, I have no idea what it's like having friends," Hilda confessed to her pokemon, clutching her pokeball, she stared at the back of the trainer and smiled softly, "I wonder what his other friends are like," Hilda expressed her thoughts out loud.

Ash waited at the exit of the town, scanning the area with a concerned expression, "you know Pikachu, there is still more missing, why is there just four of them?" Ash started questioning himself about his new foe. Ash peered to the left, his hand on his chin, his thoughts turned to what Death had told him, "then there is her," Ash peered to the young woman walking up the hill towards her new pathway in life.

"I thought you would have left me," Hilda glanced away, feeling a little uneasy with her first friend, "to be honest Ash, I have no idea what having friends is like," the brunette confessed her lack of experience to the seasoned trainer.

Ash chuckled before approaching the brunette, placing his right on her shoulder he stared her in the eyes, "just be yourself," Ash whispered quietly, Ash turned away and started walking a head, the brown haired girl watched him in shock at the comments her friend brought out, "you don't have much experience, here I thought you would have been the most popular girl in school," Ash admitted to the girl with a smirk.

"If only, I was home schooled," Hilda admitted angrily, she walked ahead of Ash, but soon slowed down, to not only think of the past, but also what the future had in store for her, "this is foreign to me, I have no idea how I should act, he tells me to be myself, but I don't even know who I really am," Hilda started talking to herself about her lack of experience. Hilda glanced back to see Ash and Pikachu, seeing them getting excited about visiting her home region.

"It has been a while since we were last here," Ash stated with great excitement.

Hilda stared at her pokeball, containing her first pokemon, 'can Snivy and I be friends like Ash and Pikachu?' she asked herself, looking back to see the young man petting his pokemon on his head, "how did you and Pikachu become like brothers?" the brunette asked Ash, curious as to the extent of their friendship.

Ash and Pikachu looked at each other and started to laugh, "well let's just say the friendship between Pikachu and me, had a shocking start," Ash smiled broadly.

Hilda now confused by the comment of the trainer, "you mean it was a tragic start?" she asked, ignoring the smiles of the two partners.

"Nope, nothing like that, in fact Pikachu hated me, in fact let's just say I was the victim of a few Thundershocks," Ash explained the rest of their first meeting with Hilda, "we were chased by a flock of Spearow and we stole another girls bike," Ash explained the day they met, "I was a complete novice," Ash continued to joke about his inexperience as a trainer at the time.

"You travelled through so many regions," Hilda commented, thinking more about the lack of experience she had, "the more I hear you talking, the more envious I feel," Hilda admitted, thinking about the travels of her brother, "I need to save my brother, but I have no idea where he is," Hilda grew upset with the situation, remembering the conversation with Death.

"Yes, I know, I guess we need to figure out a lot of things, so how about we figure this mess out together," Ash suggested as he approached the brunette, he glanced at the road leading to Accumala Town, "we can figure this out, while I help you train your pokemon," Ash gave Hilda his offer to help her become a trainer.

"Are you sure? You want to visit your friends," Hilda reminded Ash, she witnessed Ash chuckling at her question, "what's so funny?" angrily asking the young man.

"One of my friends is the gym leader and the other friend is also the champion of this region, so there is not much of a problem there," Ash answered the question of the inexperienced trainer, "now we need to help you out, I think the first thing we need to teach you how to catch a pokemon," Ash informed the Nuvema Town starting trainer.

"I watched my brother, but I still had no clue," Hilda replied, but remained uncertain how to emulate her brother as a trainer, "to be honest, I really looked up to my brother, I wanted to be a trainer just like him."

Ash peered to the left and shook his head, "you need to be yourself," Ash quickly told the woman, he looked around in hopes of finding a pokemon for the brunette to capture, spotting a small dog like pokemon, brown in colour and with a cute face, "ahh one of those would be nice, a Lillipup," the raven haired trainer pointed to the small pokemon.

"Okay, so I have to battle that pokemon?" Hilda enquired, she glanced over to Ash who nodded at her. She walked over to the pokemon with her pokeball in hand, gulping nervously, she called out a small green pokemon, "Snivy go."

Ash pulled out his pokedex and scanned the pokemon, "let's see what attacks this pokemon knows," Ash enquired, 'not bad, Leaf Tornado, Slam, Coil and Leaf Blade, Hilda's Snivy is pretty strong,' Ash continued to scan the pokedex towards the small dog like pokemon, 'alright Take Down, Crunch, Shadow Ball and Frustration, that's not too bad,' Ash thought to himself as he put his pokedex back into his pocket.

"Ummm, what should I do?" Hilda asked the experienced trainer.

"Remain calm, alright your Snivy knows Leaf Tornado, Slam, Coil and Leaf Blade, but watch out this Lillipup is pretty strong," Ash instructed the brunette, he looked at the angry wild pokemon, "use Coil to defend yourself, also use Snivy's superior speed to evade any attacks to come your way," he continued to explain the situation to Hilda.

"Alright," Hilda responded quickly as a small black fox like pokemon appeared from the wild.

"Alright, I think the best way you can learn here, is if I battle alongside me, I will try to capture that Zorua," Ash pointed to the other small pokemon, he nodded at his partner pokemon, "alright buddy, just hold back a little," Ash instructed his pokemon calmly, the small electric mouse leapt off his trainer's right shoulder and onto the battlefield, with sparks flying from his red cheeks.

"Okay, Snivy, use Leaf Tornado," Hilda instructed her pokemon to attack the normal type pokemon.

"Pikachu, attack with Thunderbolt," Ash called for his attack. The small electric type discharged a powerful blast of electricity, aimed at the dark type pokemon, while Hilda's starter pokemon spun around with a whirlwind of leaves heading to the puppy pokemon.

The two trainers watched as the two attacks dissipated, almost knocking out the two pokemon, "what now?" Hilda asked the raven haired trainer.

Ash smirked at the dark type pokemon, his eyes gleamed for a second, knowing it was the time to make one final attack on the fox like pokemon, "Pikachu, use Quick Attack," he quickly instructed his pokemon, not wanting to let the wild Zorua get the chance it needed to recover from the last attack, Ash peered over while his Pikachu rushed at the dark type, "attack before Lillipup recovers," Ash instructed the brunette.

"Leaf Blade now," Hilda ordered quickly, the brunette's grass type leapt into the air and started spinning around with its tail glowing green, slashing down on the puppy pokemon while Pikachu crashed into Zorua with incredible force.

"Now take a pokeball and aim it at the pokemon," Ash grabbed his red and white device, Hilda soon followed the instruction, "now throw it at the pokemon you intend to capture," Ash ordered, throwing his pokeball at the injured Zorua, hitting the intended target the dark type was enveloped in a bright red light, before being pulled into the device.

Hilda soon followed up with her pokeball, Lillipup was caught by the same red beam, the normal type entered the device causing Hilda to jump with joy, "I did it," Hilda celebrated.

Ash shook his head as his ball started to wobble, "not yet, you have to wait for the device to stop moving, not only that there has to be a certain signal to say you caught the pokemon, now be ready in case Lillipup leaps out of the device," Ash informed the brunette, warning her not to get to sure of herself.

Hilda's blue eyes fixated on the pokeball as it continued to shake from one side to another, growing anxious with the length of time, she started crossing her fingers in hope, her Snivy standing at the ready if Lillipup broke free from the device, 'come on,' Hilda pleaded silently, waiting for what seemed like forever.

Eventually the two pokeballs stopped moving signifying the capture of the two wild pokemon, "we did it!" the two celebrated happily, they approached the two pokeball and picked them up.

Pikachu and Snivy nodded at one another, proud of their work.

Hilda looked at her newly acquired pokemon, but also felt a little unsure of herself, 'my hope is that being a trainer will allow me to discover what I really want to do,' Hilda admitted to herself, staring at the newly captured pokemon, she ignored the calls of Ash who was petting his partner pokemon on the head again, 'he is only here to revisit Unova, but I need to discover for myself what I want to do, it is likely that he has achieved everything he wanted to achieve,' her thoughts continued to rush through her mind.

Ash walked ahead through the tree lined path, "come on Hilda Accumala Town is still a few hours walk from now," Ash called the brunette.

Hilda stared at the ground, hesitating to start going forward, "you know Snivy, Ash and Pikachu are my first friends, but still I have no idea how to be a friend," Hilda confessed to her pokemon, she looked up at the trainer and stared at him curiously, "he seems like a really cool person," Hilda whispered to herself, following him towards the town with Snivy walking next to her.

* * *

 **With Ash deciding it would be best to retake the spirit of the king of Pokelantis, he will soon face a trial to gain his power.**

 **Next time chapter 3: descending darkness**


	3. Descending Darkness

**Chapter 3: Descending Darkness.**

 _ **Summary:**_ _with the enemies pressing closer to Striaton City, in Accumala they meet with a familiar person to Hilda, but this person doesn't seem to be themselves._

 **A.N. Sorry about being so late, I was without a computer for over two months meaning that my schedule has been completely ruined.**

* * *

Slowly pressing on towards the small town, Ash and Hilda remained quiet, Hilda choosing to keep her mouth shut while Ash tried his best to make some comment, but the awkwardness of the moment was too heavy for the young man, he turned to his starter pokemon and shrugged his shoulders, "hey buddy, do you think I said something that upset her?" Ash enquired, his pokemon equally confused by the silence of the brunette.

"Hurry up, I don't have all day," Hilda snapped at the older trainer.

"We have plenty of time, it isn't like it will be night time any time soon," Ash argued with Hilda, almost intimidated by the Unova native.

Clenching her fists, the young woman turned to Ash and walked up to him, "I am not interested in how much time we have before night time," Hilda retorted furiously, raising her right fist in anger.

"We don't need to rush your journey, the Unova League isn't for another year," Ash continued to reason with his new traveling companion, he scratched his head, showing his concerns for the change in the personality of Hilda, 'she was being friendly at least an hour ago.'

Hilda ignored Ash, grabbing the two pokeballs that contained her pokemon, 'I am trying to be myself, but I have no experience with people outside my own family, so I have no clue how to act around other people,' she silently thought to herself, glancing back at the raven haired trainer following her on her first journey.

Hilda walked on leaving Ash more perplexed by Hilda's change in attitude, "she is thinking too much," he whispered, his concern becoming more obvious, but also felt a chill running down his back, "well I can't say anything, I am after all trying to gain control of an ancient evil," Ash reminded his partner pokemon, sighing at what he might lose this time around, "my friends might end up hating me if they find out that I am going to be taken over by the king of Pokelantis," Ash started chuckling at his own decision.

Heading towards Unova was a large pyramid with Brandon ready to battle Ash, "so Ash, are you going to hesitate in your decision," the man stared out to the horizon, his arms crossed and worry becoming more obvious in his tone. Turning aroun d he focused on his three pokeballs, memories flooding back about Ash's last encounter with the ancient evil.

The door to Brandon's office flung open, a woman walked in with a clipboard in her arms, "sir, the containment to Pokelantis' king is still going strong," the woman reminded the Pyramid King, she approached him, extending the clipboard to him, "everything is looking good with the engines," she informed the older man.

"Good, we land on that island there, we can take a few days' break, it isn't like we need to hurry at the moment," Brandon informed the assistant calmly, he grabbed the clipboard and started flicking through the paper, "good, keep an eye on the room, we cannot let any details slip by," the Pyramid King informed his helper.

"Sir," the woman nodded, she turned away and rushed out of the office again, heading towards the containment room.

Brandon sat at his desk staring at the pokeballs containing his legendary pokemon, "Regirock, Registeel and Regice, it seems like we have to test that young man again," he whispered to his pokemon, clasping his hands together, resting his head on his hands, 'didn't expect to see Ash going after the Pokelantis king,' the Frontier Brain thought to himself, swinging his chair around he looked out the window.

The Battle Pyramid started descending towards the island, the engines caused the trees to sway forcing the pokemon away from their homes, after landing the engines vanished into the structure allowing for the doors to open up, Brandon walked out inspecting the island, holding his three pokeballs, "sir, what about the other Frontier Brains?" One of the men asked the leader, concerned about the disappointment that some of the trainers might be experiencing.

"I cannot think about the trainers at the moment, the world is in danger so I have to put the world first," Brandon informed the male assistants, he walked towards the edge of the island, still holding his thoughts about the king of Pokelantis, 'Ash I hope you know what you doing.'

 **(Accumala Town)**

Ash and Hilda entered the small town, scanning the streets, the two noticed how things seemed to be strange, the empty streets in what was normally a busy town, "this isn't right, where are the people?" Ash asked disparagingly, walking further into town to find out where the people are. He walked up to the empty markets but the number of people were fewer than the last time he was in the same town.

Hilda walked up to Ash, a serious expression plastered over her face, "something is off, when I was here last, there were way more people," Hilda stared at the almost empty markets.

"Yeah, even Pikachu is sensing something," Ash noticed the fear in his Pikachu and the people who were glancing towards them. Ash quickly led Hilda and Pikachu out of the market place, "whatever it was, it has the people on edge," Ash whispered.

Hilda walked away, ignoring Ash's concerning comments. She continued before noticing that Ash wasn't following her, "let's go to the Pokemon Centre," the brunette suggested rashly.

The raven haired man nogged in agreement and followed the Unova native, peering back, Ash took a deep breath and gulped at the dreadful feeling that seem to wash over the small town, as he was following Hilda into the medical facility he was quick to notice a person with black cloak with their face covered by an ominous hood, "that person, whoever it is has something to do with the missing people," Ash quickly jumped the gun.

Hilda sat in the empty main foyer, her arms crossed with her tapping her left foot on the ground, "you took your sweet time," she complained aggressively.

"Sorry, but I saw someone who didn't fit in," Ash replied before being smacked on the arm by Hilda, "hey what was that for?" Ash started rubbing his arm, wincing in pain from the powerful hit from the younger female.

"Hahaha, very funny," Hilda replied in a snarky tone, turning away from the young man, "you know full well that I never had friends or fit in anywhere," Hilda snapped at the young man, clenching her fists in anger.

"I wasn't referring to you, besides the person I saw looks like a male," Ash responded to Hilda's frustrated comment, still rubbing his arm and easing her temper slightly, Ash lifted up his jacket and immediately saw some bruising on his arm, 'was she holding back?' Ash asked himself, gulping at the power that was being shown by the young woman.

"You're lucky, I could have broken your arm," Hilda smirked confidently at the experienced trainer.

Ash looked over at his partner pokemon, "oh man she was holding back," Ash whispered fearfully, 'I better not get on her wrong side or she could end up killing me,' Ash thought to himself while lowering the sleeve of his jacket.

Ash walked over to front counter and eased his left arm on the desk, "is there anything I can help you with?" Nurse Joy asked the raven haired man.

Ash looked at his arm and winced in pain yet again, "yeah information and a bag of ice," he answered quickly.

"It is about the disappearing people right?" The pink haired nurse enquired softly, Ash nodded as he was being given a bag of ice to place over his arm, "it started almost five months ago, a man in black walked into the town and started preaching something," Joy started explaining the situation to Ash.

While holding the ice pack on his bruised arm, Ash started to think about the mystery person, "it seems to coincidental," Ash whispered.

"What?" The nurse drew her attention to Ash's reply.

"Was just expressing my thoughts out loud," Ash quickly answered, still picturing the person in the cloak. Ash stood up, holding the ice pack on his arm, "what time does this preaching usually start at?" He enquired calmly.

Nurse Joy look at the clock and took a deep breath, "in about two hours."

"Two hours to create a plan," Ash remarked with a confident smirk, he turned away from the front desk and started walking. After grabbing his meal, Ash turned to the brunette, sitting on her own, staring at a book that she had hidden, "so what are you reading?"

"Nothing that concerns you," Hilda replied coldly.

Ash heavily sighed, placing his plate on the table, he sat opposite Hilda and attempted to grab the book, with her superior reflexes Hilda easily evaded Ash, "you seem to change your personality at the drop of a hat," Ash pointed out, causing Hilda to glare at him, making him feel uneasy about her expression, "maybe you need to calm down and put that book down, learn to live life to the fullest and have fun being a trainer," he suggested almost in fear of Hilda's temper. While eating his meal Ash glanced up wondering what his new friend was thinking about, "do you have a dream you want to follow?"

The starting trainer closed her book and threw it on the table causing it to shake, "why do you want to know?"

"Oh come on, all my friends have got ambitions they have been following," Ash replied, slowly eating his food.

"I had a dream, now I just feel like it is worth following anymore," Hilda confessed with disdain, she stood up and started walking away.

Ash grabbed her wrist to prevent the brunette from walking away, "wait, don't walk away," Ash pleaded, the younger teen glared at the trainer bringing fear in his eyes, refusing to let go Ash steeled his gaze preparing for Hilda to use her strength again, "before you react, what was your dream?"

Clenching her fist tightly, Hilda used her other hand to pry Ash's fingers from her wrist, "my dream," Hilda started while forcing Ash to let go one finger at a time, "was to open up a pokemon acting agency," Hilda told Ash her goals, she walked off leaving Ash unsure about her.

"You should follow that dream," Ash hollered, the comment caused Hilda to freeze, she turned to him with a regretful expression, Ash looked away, now keeping his mouth shut, he watched the brunette leaving the foyer, watching her with interest, he quickly turned his attention to Pikachu who was enjoying his bottle of ketchup, "you know buddy, it seems like she has been hurting more than she deserves to, she even gave up her dream because of what people thought of her," Ash explained to his partner pokemon.

Hilda with her back to the wall in the hallway listened to Ash's words, tears now streaming down her face, "damn you Ash, you saw right through me," Hilda wiped away her tears, she started walking slowly towards her room, with her hand on the doorknob, she started to turn the doorknob before hesitating once again, she turned to the main foyer and sensed another person around, 'that feels familiar,' she thought to herself, she dried away the last of the tears and rushed back into the lobby.

"Hilda, we need to go outside now!" Ash called to the brunette. She froze yet again, looking away from the trainer's watchful gaze, "come on, I need your help here," Ash requested as he ran out of the facility.

Hilda took a deep breath, seeing the man approaching a small crowd, a grin crossed her face, taking her first step forward, "fine Ash, I will help you for now," she whispered inaudibly.

Ash stood in the midst of the crowd, Hilda approached Ash who was listening to the person speaking, "the end of the world is coming, but only those who believe in the Four Horsemen will survive!" A male voice echoed around the town.

"I knew it, this person is part of a cult," Ash placed his hand over his chin while Hilda pressed her left hand over her mouth, "is there a problem?"

"He sounds familiar, but there is no way," Hilda told Ash with a hint of uncertainty, the speech continued on in front of them.

Ash and Pikachu looked up at the man who was continuing his speech, "with the help of my leaders the world will come out for the better," he expressed his words with great charisma, "for those that believe, come forward," he ordered the people.

Ash started walking up to the main stage with his partner pokemon, Hilda grabbed his wrist to stop him, "no Ash, don't go up there," Hilda pleaded with an anxious expression.

"I said I needed your help, the best way to find out who this person is," Ash forced Hilda to let go of his wrist, he turned to his friend and nodded at her, "is to go up there and wreck the plan," Ash declared confidently rushing up to the stage.

"Wait for me Ash!" Hilda called out, this time getting onto the main stage with the young man.

"So it seems like you two….." the man started but was interrupted by the other man.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt," Ash explained the first attack of the battle, the electric mouse aimed a blast of electricity at the hooded man, as the bolt of lightning darted towards the mystery man a burst of flames met the electric attack, the ground rattled violently as the two attacks exploded leaving the three trainers standing on the same spot. Ash watched a larger pig like pokemon stepping in front of his trainer, "Emboar," the raven haired man whispered.

"A battle?" the man asked the trainer coldly. "Emboar use Flamethrower," the man issued his command again.

"Pikachu evade with Quick Attack," Ash replied with a counter, the fiery attack streamed towards Pikachu, who was rushing towards the attack unflinchingly, the smaller pokemon danced around the fire, getting closer to the opposing pokemon, "alright use Volt Tackle now," Ash ordered for another devastating attack.

"Use Brick Break," the man called for another attack, watching the yellow pokemon becoming surrounded by an electric aura, his pokemon's right fist started glowing white.

The two pokemon collided yet again this time creating a shockwave that ripped up parts of the stage, the people gasped in horror as the battle started to become more violent. Ash, Hilda and the opposing trainer evaded the falling debris.

"Pikachu, climb the debris," Ash commanded his pokemon to create some distance between him and the mega-pig pokemon.

"Aim a Flamethrower at the sky," replied smugly.

"Thunderbolt now!" Ash cried out the next command, the two pokemon unleashed their vicious attacks causing the remnants of the stage, with the two attacks creating a sphere, with more of the attacks flowing into the sphere, causing it to grow before exploding sending flames and bolts of lightning to fly in every direction.

The surrounding buildings erupted into flames, with the raging fires erupting around them Ash and the mystery trainer shared an intense stare, their pokemon preparing to attack yet again, "Snivy Leaf Blade now," Hilda's voice rang out, her starter pokemon caught the opposing trainer off guard.

Ash watched the grass type slicing down on the hooded man, the wind picked up, he cloak now flying away and into the intense flames, a man with brown hair, wearing a blue jacket, red shoes and black jeans smirked at the duo.

Hilda gasped in horror at the sight of the man standing in front of her, "no…. it can't….." Hilda hesitated after the revelation.

Ash glanced at Hilda who was visibly shaken up by what she had seen, "so you must be her brother," he hissed at the man, growing angry at the trainer. Sparks started flying from the electric mouse's cheek pouches, preparing to restart the battle, "Pikachu, use Thund…" Ash started to call for the next attack, but was stopped by a shaken Hilda, "let me finish this battle," Ash demanded, losing focus on the battle.

"Don't battle my brother, please Ash," the girl pleaded with Ash, not wanting to see her brother's pokemon getting hurt as well as her brother at the same time, Ash looked down at the crying female and turned to his pokemon.

Before telling his pokemon that the battle was over, he was hit by a bone crushing Head Smash causing his partner pokemon to be sent flying, "Pikachu!" Ash yelled out in horror, his partner pokemon landing on the ground behind him, injured by the brutal attack, he rushed to his partner pokemon's side, furious by the brutality of his opponent, the young man picked up his pokeball and called out for another pokemon, "Greninja, use Water Shuriken!" Fury overcame Ash, calling for his ninja pokemon to attack the fire starter pokemon.

"Brick Break now," Hilbert announced the next attack.

Hilda watched the star shape water attack flying towards the incoming attacker, Emboar was hit by the attack causing it to be sent flying. The teen turned her attention to Pikachu who was severely injured by an attack by her brother's pokemon, "my brother would never resort to injuring pokemon like that," Hilda whispered to herself, still in shock at what had happened.

"Water Pulse now, don't give them a chance to rest," Ash growled, orbs of water formed around the water type pokemon from Kalos, he signalled for the pokemon to attack.

Unleashing the orbs at the downed pokemon, Hilbert recalled the fire type and started running away from the battle, the crowd was long gone, "why would he?" Hilda fell to the ground, stunned at what she had witnessed, she looked at the Pikachu who was getting picked up by his trainer, "what have I done?" She asked herself with tears streaming down her face.

"Are you alright buddy?" Ash asked his partner pokemon, the small yellow pokemon woke up and let out a small cry, before fainting from the battle, Ash turned his attention to Greninja, "thanks," Ash tried to regain his composure, recalling his pokemon, he looked up to see that his opponent had vanished.

Hilda walked up to Ash, hesitant to say anything to the trainer, she felt responsible for what had happened to his starter pokemon, "Ash, I am sorry, I shouldn't have tried to stop you," Hilda begged for forgiveness, still crying from her own actions and seeing her brother.

Hilda watched Ash getting up, he brushed away her tears before walking away, "no time for that, we need to make sure Pikachu recovers," Ash tried to assure his friend, "next time I will not be holding back against your brother," Ash informed the brunette, leaving her in shock at the declaration.

"First my anger got the best of me, I hurt Ash, then my uncertainty got Pikachu hurt in the battle," Hilda watched Ash walking back to the Pokemon Centre, her Snivy looking up at her with a grin, "Snivy I also put you in danger," Hilda knelt down to pick up her pokemon, she started hugging her pokemon, "everyone is better off if I just vanished," Hilda whispered to her pokemon before freezing yet again.

'Is that so? I thought you were stronger than that,' a voice echoed in the mind of the brunette.

Hilda scanned the empty location, 'how is that the case, I only pretend to be strong, but the reality is, I am weak,' Hilda informed to the voice.

'You really are pitiful, I cannot even expend the full amount of my power and yet you wish you didn't exist, grow up will you,' the voice berated the brunette.

"Why are you saying this Famine?" Hilda enquired with a tremble in her voice. Stepping back in fear as a small orb appeared before Hilda.

'Shut up, you now have another reason why you must get stronger as a trainer,' Famine berated Hilda who was looking at the floor, the orb approached her before vanishing, 'now to deal with the famine you bring upon others, there is a special item that can suppress my power, find it,' the orb vanished.

Hilda snapped out of the meeting with Famine, she looked down at her pokemon, "it seems like I have a lot to learn, I was a real bitch today," Hilda professed her displeasure towards her own attitude towards Ash, "but there is an item that I need to search for, for that I will need Ash's help," Hilda whispered softly.

Ash was sitting in the main foyer when Hilda entered the medical facility, she walked up to Ash who shot a quick glance at her, but looked away immediately, "um," Hilda tried to say something, but nothing was coming from her lips, she turned away, upset with her own actions.

Ash remained silent now ignoring Hilda who was shaking in anger, Ash turned his attention to the front counter where he, "Pikachu, please be alright buddy," Ash stared intently at the desk.

"I am sorry Ash," Hilda cried to the trainer, she ran off to the hallway.

Ash watched the brunette running off to the hallway, taking a sigh, "she is really a kind hearted person, but she needs to get stronger," he started thinking aloud, scratching his head, the man looked at his hands for a moment, 'maybe I am pushing her too hard at the moment,' he thought to himself, thinking about Hilda's temper and thinking about why she turned on him so quickly.

Hilda entered her room, jumped on the bed and started to cry even more, "what should I do?"

Ash knocked on the door and waited for the girl's response, "Pikachu will be fine, he always pulls through," Ash explained his confidence behind the door.

"I pretend to be strong, yet that is too far from the truth," Hilda told Ash, she sat up and rested her chin on her knees, she stared at the door, "Famine told me I have another reason to travel before vanishing," Hilda informed Ash, she leapt of the bed and started walking towards the door, "I never expected to see my brother today," Hilda placed her hand on the door handle, she opened the door to see Ash standing in front of her. Slowly raising her, exhaling heavily she extended out her hand, she looked up and smiled at the young man.

Perplexed by the brunette's actions, Ash tilted his head wondering what was going on, "what's going on?" A confused trainer asked the younger teen.

"My name is Hilda, my goals are to save my brother, open up a pokemon acting agency and to become a strong trainer," Hilda introduced herself again to Ash who was wondering what was happening.

Ash extended out his hand and grabbed Hilda's, "my name is Ash from Pallet Town, I aim to be a Pokemon Master," Ash finished the second round of introductions.

They both let go, Hilda was feeling a little more relieved at the renewed introductions, "I want you to help me train my pokemon," she requested, almost hoping that she was able to make her first friend ever, "I have never made friends before, so I don't know the first thing about being a friend to anyone," Hilda tried her best to tell Ash about her tough life.

"It's fine, just be yourself, like you are right now," Ash replied, placing his hand on Hilda's head.

The girl smiled and bowed her head, "thank you Ash."

Meanwhile on the outskirts of town Hilbert was kneeling down in front of Death who was laughing at the situation that had unfolded, "this little game could get very interesting, even my dormant boss will be pleased with the situation," the powerful man implied with great joy, taking a look at the Pokemon Centre, "even your sister doesn't want you getting hurt, this is going to be awesome," he started laughing manically, raising his arms in the arm, "things are about to get interesting!" he yelled out happily as he pointed his left arm at the town, "you're mission was a success Hilbert, meet with your friends in Nacrene City for the next part of the plan."

"Yes sir," Hilbert replied, he stood up and started walking away.

Death watched the trainer walking away from the outskirts of the town, he turned to the remains of the town, "that young trainer is amazing, he used his pokemon's Water Pulse to douse the flames while in the midst of battle," Death complimented the young man, he started walking towards the town, but was stopped by War, "seems like you want me to head out to another location."

"Correct, our mission has changed, we cannot let the King of Pokelantis play a part in this, you are to deal with the Pyramid King," War instructed her teammate, "we leave those two for now," she informed Death who was getting annoyed at the situation that he was being forced to take.

"Fine," a disdainful reply came from Death, he walked away and prepared to make the journey to the next destination, "this would be more interesting than those two anyway," Death hissed at the teammate causing concern in her thoughts.

Back at the Pokemon Centre Ash was resting in his room thinking about his battle with Hilbert, "he is a strong trainer, he would make an awesome rival," Ash complimented Hilbert on his skills as a pokemon trainer, noting how powerful the Emboar was, "if it wasn't for such a cheap tactic by the Hilbert that battle would have been really awesome."

Ash sat up and smiled at the new idea, "Hilbert, get ready, once I beat some sense into you, we are going to be rivals!" Ash declared with a confident tone, loudly for everyone to hear.

Hilda was sitting in her room, hearing Ash's declaration, "seems like he found some voice," Hilda stared at the ceiling and exhaled, raising her right hand, she clenched her fist, "now, I will use my strength to save my brother and stop the ones that want to bring an end to the world, no more taking it out on other people and inanimate objects," Hilda decided on a new path, she closed her eyes and lowered her arm, falling asleep from the long journey from her home town.

* * *

 **With Hilbert being used as a puppet, Hilda has now decided on the paths that she will take, no longer showing any more hesitation, with the help of Ash, will Hilda be able to build her own destiny?**

 **Next up chapter 4: race for Striaton**


End file.
